Two road closures in Wenas Wildlife Area

SELAH, Wash. — Durr Road, a commonly-used access road into the Wenas Wildlife Area, will be closed to motor vehicles from today through Sunday, Nov. 18, while crews contracted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife install a new bridge across Umtanum Creek.

The closure comes on the heels of another temporary motorized-vehicle closure, instituted last Friday, of a portion of the wildlife area that was burned in last summer’s wildfire.

That closure involves about three miles of the Hessler Flats/Kelley Hollow loop and begins at a locked elk-fence gate. It instituted to protect against soil erosion and allow vegetation to reseed in a 1,170-acre area that burned in the Wenas Lake fire over Labor Day weekend, according to Wenas Wildlife Area manager Cindi Confer Morris. Recent rains and increased off-road vehicle use in the open area “is tearing up the exposed soil and slowing restoration,” necessitating the closure, Confer Morris said.

A walk-through gate has been installed so that people can continue to enter the area on foot or on horseback.

Comments (

0

)

We are using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box.